Landcruiser transmission cooler?

[4Runner4Leon]

I grabbed a large OEM cooler from a 97 Landcruiser at the junkyard yesterday.

Assuming it fits (it's pretty big, and about 1.5" deep), should I consider installing it? Or just go with a B&M?

 

[theesotericone]

I grabbed a large OEM cooler from a 97 Landcruiser at the junkyard yesterday.

Assuming it fits (it's pretty big, and about 1.5" deep), should I consider installing it? Or just go with a B&M?

I have a Hayden cooler with a 7" electric fan on it. That set-up is 2 1/2" thick. You should be fine with 1 1/2" thickness. I guess the real question in what's the BTU rating on the LC unit. This is a guess but I would think it would be a higher rating then either Hayden or B&M's.

If that's the case and it's in good shape I'd use it.

 

[nc-grayson]

I'd run it regardless of the BTU rating. Whether your run it inline or bypass the stock rad cooler, you're in better shape than when you started.

From an engineering standpoint, toyota figured the stock cooler in the rad was sufficient - so anything above and beyond will just be icing.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

Well I think the only way it'd go in is like this, driver side, slightly angled so that it's close to the AC condenser on the right side of the photo, and a bit further away on the left side to clear the latch hardware. I can probably use the existing screws on top to hold it (the rusty one on the right side, which is the AC condenser attachment, and one of the latch attach screws on the left side).

The cooler lines would enter and exit at the bottom in this configuration, which should be fine.

About 3 inches of the cooler are below the bumper, so less exposed to airflow, but whatever.

The plastic retainer for the AC hard line will have to be spaced away from the vertical metal brace that it currently snaps into (left side of photo).

But I think overall this is doable, what do you guys think? Or am I asking for more complexity than is needed with a thinner cooler? I do think that an OEM Landcruiser cooler has a certain badass quality to it, but I can be talked out of that mindset.

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

i would bend that ac line towards the radiator, have some brackets fabricated, and install it in front of the ac line and with the atf lines on the side.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Unless it will fit snug between the frame and the condenser, I would skip it. Or if you have some made welding skills to cut the frame. In a rarity this may be a case where bigger is not better.

In close to twenty years of yard picking, I have only seen one Landcruiser. And even with it being flipped on its top I think, it was still picked clean in two days.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

i would bend that ac line towards the radiator, have some brackets fabricated, and install it in front of the ac line and with the atf lines on the side.

I tried that approach, but with the ATF lines on the side, the long dimension becomes vertical and it's just too tall to fit. I can try it again tomorrow and take some pics.

As for putting it in front of the AC line, that places it so far forward that the grille standoffs interfere.

I'll take some more pics tomorrow to show the other things I tried.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

Unless it will fit snug between the frame and the condenser, I would skip it. Or if you have some made welding skills to cut the frame. In a rarity this may be a case where bigger is not better.

Are you saying to avoid a gap between the trans cooler and the condenser, for airflow reasons, or am I missing your point? I thought I read in other posts that it's not critical to have trans cooler close to the condenser? In fact, walking around the junkyard, I thought I saw many factory trans coolers mounted in the middle of nowhere behind the grille, inches away from the condenser.

In close to twenty years of yard picking, I have only seen one Landcruiser. And even with it being flipped on its top I think, it was still picked clean in two days.

I know, same here. This one was actually incredibly complete. Old and decrepit, but almost untouched.

 

[LittleCaesar]

As long as your fan clutch is in good condition, you would like to have the cooler in front of the fan and as close to the condenser as possible. Given though that the LC tranny cooler is huge, the volume of ATF being cooled at one time may make up for the lack of ideal placement.

In years back on here and on YT members bypassed the ATF radiator exchanger for fear of the pink milkshake. There was one guy on YT that played with the location of his ATF cooler and found that the optimal cooling placement was in front of the fan mounted against the condenser. And he was in Texas, so he had a good proving ground to experiment with.

In reference to the OEM mounting positions, they usually aren't optimal IMO yet any cooler does help rather than no cooler present at all.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

As long as your fan clutch is in good condition, you would like to have the cooler in front of the fan and as close to the condenser as possible. Given though that the LC tranny cooler is huge, the volume of ATF being cooled at one time may make up for the lack of ideal placement.

In years back on here and on YT members bypassed the ATF radiator exchanger for fear of the pink milkshake. There was one guy on YT that played with the location of his ATF cooler and found that the optimal cooling placement was in front of the fan mounted against the condenser. And he was in Texas, so he had a good proving ground to experiment with.

In reference to the OEM mounting positions, they usually aren't optimal IMO yet any cooler does help rather than no cooler present at all.

Good info, thanks. I'll try to place it as close as possible to the condenser. I suppose I can also add skirts to the sides to create a tunnel between the cooler and condenser, though that's beginning to sound like a project.

 

[thecole1098]

Good info, thanks. I'll try to place it as close as possible to the condenser. I suppose I can also add skirts to the sides to create a tunnel between the cooler and condenser, though that's beginning to sound like a project.

Yeah, there's no point to add skirts to isolate when the same effect can be done by adding an electric fan in front of the cooler, but that would only be necessary when towing a lot or sitting for long periods of time during hot weather.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

Yeah, there's no point to add skirts to isolate when the same effect can be done by adding an electric fan in front of the cooler, but that would only be necessary when towing a lot or sitting for long periods of time during hot weather.

That's definitely an option too. I don't really expecting to wheel or tow much, so I'm guessing I probably don't even need a cooler - but this one was there for the taking, so I'd like to install it and see how the temps behave.

I also think I can notch the upper left mounting bracket a bit and push the whole thing back a bit closer to the condenser; I'll investigate tomorrow.

 

[thecole1098]

When I bought my rig it came with a tranny cooler installed in series with the radiator already and I have records of the tranny being rebuilt so I'm pretty sure what happened to it... anyway I decided to get a new radiator and bypassed it completely. With my tranny temp gauge being installed for a few months now, I can safely say I have never seen it get above 180 during hard wheeling. I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

When I bought my rig it came with a tranny cooler installed in series with the radiator already and I have records of the tranny being rebuilt so I'm pretty sure what happened to it... anyway I decided to get a new radiator and bypassed it completely. With my tranny temp gauge being installed for a few months now, I can safely say I have never seen it get above 180 during hard wheeling. I'm pretty happy with it.

Just curious, what is your cooler setup?

 

[thecole1098]

Just curious, what is your cooler setup?

I have no idea what the brand or BTUs of it is to be honest, like I said it came with it. I just removed how it was ran in series and bypassed the radiator completely with it. I'll try and get a pic of it tomorrow to see if yall can tell what kind it is cause I'm curious as well

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

OP, can you post the overall dimensions of the cooler?

Thanks!

 

[jgue467]

I grabbed a large OEM cooler from a 97 Landcruiser at the junkyard yesterday.

Assuming it fits (it's pretty big, and about 1.5" deep), should I consider installing it? Or just go with a B&M?

Pick either but don't by-pass the factory engine radiator cooling design and your tranny will stay well under 200 in all types of hot weather, towing and stop-go conditions, ask me how I know! :cowboy:

 

[4Runner4Leon]

I have no idea what the brand or BTUs of it is to be honest, like I said it came with it. I just removed how it was ran in series and bypassed the radiator completely with it. I'll try and get a pic of it tomorrow to see if yall can tell what kind it is cause I'm curious as well

I'd like to see it! It'd be funny if you have the Landcruiser cooler .

OP, can you post the overall dimensions of the cooler?

Sure, without the brackets, the actual unit is 11" x 13" x 1-3/4"

Pick either but don't by-pass the factory engine radiator cooling design and your tranny will stay well under 200 in all types of hot weather, towing and stop-go conditions, ask me how I know! :cowboy:

Thanks, that's definitely my plan, especially because I just put in a brand new radiator!

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

with that size, i think it needs to be located in front of the ac line with customized brackets to hold it properly and avoid damaging other parts, especially the condenser. you might like to look at jdmpinoy's build thread, particularly on how he mounted his atf cooler.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

I realized that during this exercise, I was neglecting the orientation of inlet/outlet nipples.

The only reasonable way to get the cooler to fit is what I showed earlier, but that had the nipples pointing down, which, at least per B&M instructions, is not recommended due to risk of air bubbles.

So I think this was the final straw; like [MENTION=69868]LittleCaesar[/MENTION] said, this may be a case of bigger is not better.

I might still consider putting it in the only other orientation I can envision, which is ahead of the AC line, like [MENTION=28910]HiluxSurf SSR-G18[/MENTION] is recommending, but that creates a huge air gap between the AC condenser and trans cooler, and may not even fit behind the grille without mods to the grille, which I don't feel like doing.

I guess I can also mount it very low, like this - Project SportRunner - Transmission Cooler, but I'm not sure it'll fit on my truck, without the fat lip bumper.

So it may very well be Ebay-bound.